The Golden Voyage E-Book

Malcolm Archibald

• Herausgeber: Fledgling Press
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

When Detective Sergeant James Mendick is sent to find the Duke of Mathon's stolen yacht, he soon realises that this is no ordinary case. Trapped aboard a mysterious ship sailing the South Atlantic, he finds himself in a world of cut-throats, criminals and a captain strangely obsessed with Greek mythology. Accompanied only by the likes of Liverpool packet-rats and a spirited fiddle-playing female sailor, Mendick must do his duty and navigate his way to the truth. Who would go to such lengths to steal a steam yacht, and why? Following A Burden Shared and The Darkest Walk, The Golden Voyage is the third in the series of Victorian crime novels featuring Scotland Yard Detective James Mendick.

Leseprobe

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE

Malcolm Archibald

© Malcolm Archibald 2016

The author asserts the moral right to be identified

as the author of the work in accordance with the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.

Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,

is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of

Fledgling Press Ltd,

7 Lennox St., Edinburgh, EH4 1QB

Published by Fledgling Press, 2016

www.fledglingpress.co.uk

Print ISBN: 9781905916146

eBook ISBN: 9781905916153

Following his adventures inThe Darkest WalkandA Burden Shared, Detective Mendick returns in this, the third of the Mendick Mysteries.

For Cathy

Contents

PRELUDE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

PREVIEW: MENDICK OF THE YARD

ALSO AVAILABLE

P R E L U D E

VICTORIA COLONY, AUSTRALIA

December 1850

Pale blue and flecked with ragged cloud, the sky stretched to infinity, a dome of space that pressed down upon the earth, trapping the inhabitants as surely as if they were confined within a stone dungeon. With the space came unrelenting heat, a dry, dust-laden horror that parched the throat and evaporated sweat as soon as it formed. The final and worst of the trio of torments was the myriad flies that plagued the three men who slouched in the shadow of the eucalyptus ghost trees, eyes narrowed as they watched the activity in the street. Four horses fretted in front of the covered wagon, the driver of which pulled at his long-stemmed pipe and chatted nonchalantly to the blue-uniformed guard sitting at his side. Mounted on tall horses, four more uniformed men slowly patrolled the length and breadth of the short street, their carbines held with a casual unconcern that spoke of professional expertise, their eyes constantly roving and probing into every corner, scrutinising every face.

The watcher’s interest intensified when a further two men emerged from the wooden building in the town’s main street. They staggered under the weight of the chest that they carried to the wagon. One swore as he stumbled but recovered with difficulty to lift the chest onto the tailboard. Above the pillared door of the otherwise unimpressive building, dust partially obscured the sign that declared Bank of Victoria. A small group of men watched the activity, some with hands thrust in their pockets, hawking and spitting on to the dusty road, some attempting to exchange jests with the guards. In the background two women stood together; one held a child, while the other drank from a chipped tin cup. A dog prowled around the edges of the crowd, sniffing, until a man kicked it away. It howled, retreated and returned.

‘One strongbox, then,’ the first watcher said, pulling at the brim of his cabbage tree hat. ‘That will be the Majesty.’

‘We don’t know what’s inside,’ the second replied.

‘We know that it’s heavy and well-guarded,’ the third contradicted. ‘What else could it be but gold? Whether it’s the Majesty or not hardly matters.’

‘It matters a lot to me,’ the first man said. ‘It’s the principle of the bloody thing.’

‘Principle, my arse,’ a wad of tobacco muffled the voice of the second man. ‘Gold’s bloody gold, whatever form it takes. Anyway,’ he spat a stream of tobacco juice against the bole of the nearest eucalypt, ‘they say that there’s a special agent of the Queen sent to guard the bloody Majesty. That sounds like trouble.’

‘Since when were you scared of trouble, Colonel?’ The first man injected scorn into his voice, hoping to provoke a reaction.

‘Since never, Wetheral, you Johnny Raw bastard, but only a complete bloody fool looks for trouble when there’s easy gold to be had.’

‘The Colonel’s right there, Jim.’ The third man settled his horse as it flicked its tail and ears to remove the questing flies. ‘Think of a strongbox of gold all to ourselves. That’s enough for us to buy a tavern apiece, fill it with beer and rum, add a dozen bouncing women and live like kings.’

‘That’s not how kings live,’ Jim Wetheral said. ‘They sit on satin-covered thrones, counting their millions and plotting how to rob their subjects of what little they have.’

‘Bar that, Jim,’ the Colonel spat more tobacco juice on to the already stained tree. ‘This isn’t the time for your radical blabbing.’

Above them a host of gaudy birds chattered, occasionally exploding from the branches in a colourful display of aeronautical gyrations that the men ignored. Wetheral adjusted his hat and pulled his horse slightly further forward for a better view.

‘It took two men to lift the strongbox,’ the Colonel pointed out. ‘So we can estimate that it weighs at least a hundred pounds, with or without the Majesty.’ He performed some rapid mental calculations. ‘That would be worth around £8,000 in the open market.’

‘What the average man earns in three lifetimes,’ Wetheral said quietly.

The third man whistled slowly. ‘That’s a lot of blunt.’

‘They owe it to us,’ the Colonel replied. He was the tallest of the three, with twine fastening his dustcoat together and the sole of his left boot flapping from the stirrup.

‘Now, don’t be selfish, Colonel. There’s more men that deserve gold than just us.’ Wetheral lifted his hat and smeared sweat across his face, temporarily disrupting a host of flies which buzzed angrily, only to return the second he removed his hand.

‘We don’t all have your high ideals, Jim,’ the third man chided. He smiled as best as his scarred lips allowed.

‘You’re right there, Fletcher,’ the Colonel agreed. ‘High ideals earn only poverty.’

The uniformed escort swaggered to the audience and began to push them back, using the bulk of their horses as battering rams and the barrels of their carbines for extra emphasis. The watchers clearly heard the jingle of their spurs.

‘Bloody Dight’s Light Cavalry,’ the Colonel wiped a hand across his mouth, spreading tobacco juice across his beard. ‘Freelance escorts with fancy bloody uniforms, and all born gentlemen, so they claim.’

Wetheral stiffened. ‘Well then, that makes them a fine target.’ He met the Colonel’s stare with an utter lack of expression.

‘That chip will break your shoulder someday, Jim, my lad,’ Fletcher said. ‘And it’s Dight’s Private Gold Escort Company, by-the-bye.’

‘They’re moving.’ Wetheral guided his horse back into the shelter of the trees, watching intently as the uniformed men formed a loose escort around the wagon. They looked outward, carbines balanced on their knees and boots in long stirrups as they guided their horses.

The crowd pulled back, one man yelling a drunken Irish slogan that none of the three watchers understood, and one of the women waving a languid hand in farewell. Iron-shod wheels ground into the Ballarat road, raising dust that hung in a choking cloud before falling slowly in the still air. The dog continued to prowl and sniff as the birds chattered in the eucalypt branches.

‘Keep a fair distance,’ Wetheral advised, and even the tall colonel nodded agreement, although his lip curled in contempt.

The escort kept close to the wagon, their blue uniforms soon shaded by dust, their carbines held in deceptively casual hands. Any orders that were given still carried over the grind of the wheels, despite their conversational tone. The chatter of birdlife and uncounted insects acted as accompaniment to the irregular drumbeat of hooves.

‘Not far,’ the Colonel looked sideways through slitted eyes. ‘Now we’ll see what you bastards are made of.’ The three men remained two hundred yards from the escort as they threaded through the eucalypt trees that formed a belt between the road and the sweeping grassland that spread out forever to the north. The cry of a bellbird mocked the men for their pointless pursuit of yellow metal.

‘Careful, now.’ The Colonel pulled back a little as they heard the sound of voices, and they instinctively touched the butts of their revolvers. A small group of hopeful miners plodded toward the newly-discovered goldfield.

Wetheral watched them without expression, noting the international nature of the diggers. Among the Englishmen in peasant smocks and broadcloth suits were Germans and Dutch in distinctive national costume, three colonial boys in wide-brimmed hats and an olive-skinned man from the Mediterranean. ‘The world is setting aside its differences here,’ he murmured. ‘Oh, lucky country, born in chains but bred in harmony.’

The Colonel glowered at him and spat on the ground. ‘Bar that, you bloody dreamer. They’re after the gold, not bastarding utopia, and they’re only walking because their pockets are to let. They haven’t the blunt to pay the tenner transport costs.’

‘Only a mile to go,’ Fletcher lisped as the diggers trudged past. He eased the pistol in his belt and drew a hard hand across the back of his neck. ‘Let’s hope that Dight’s lads are not as keen as they look.’

‘They’re not paid enough to risk their lives,’ Wetheral tried to sound more confident than he felt. He was never sure about the motives of men who allowed others to control their destiny simply for the security of donning a uniform. They might hook it at the first whiff of powder, or fight like the devil for the price of a pauper’s pension.

The road to Ballarat was fairly well trodden, with hopeful diggers padding up from the coast to the goldfields, and the disappointed detritus slouching back down, broken by failure and cursing the cruelty of fate. Even so, there were long lonely stretches where silver-barked trees hugged the trail close enough to kill the light and even the call of a kookaburra was scarcely able to penetrate the crackling branches. It was one such spot that the Colonel had chosen for his ambush.

‘Spurs,’ he ordered, ‘and we’ll overtake the bastards.’

With the forest acting as a protective barrier, it was safe to push the horses on, winding through the trees until the Colonel angled them back toward the road. As the new chum in the bush, Wetheral meekly followed orders, depending on the experience of the Colonel and Fletcher. He ducked beneath spreading branches, flinched as a snake slithered a few feet from his face and swatted at the insects that clouded unceasingly around his face.

‘Here we be,’ the Colonel’s voice grated in his throat, ‘and here we stand.’ He pulled up his horse behind a thinning patch of eucalyptus that commanded a view of the ambush site. The road descended in a series of bends and curves before rising into a slope that ascended steeply towards their position. The air was hot and dry, lively with insects.

Wetheral nodded his approval. The Colonel had chosen well. The bends would effectively break up the escort so that they would straggle along the narrow road, with most out of sight of the wagon when it inevitably slowed at the dip. By the time the wagon struggled to the summit, the driver would be more concerned with urging on his straining horses than any possible ambush.

‘It’s not the Black Forest,’ the Colonel referred to a stretch of the Melbourne Road, between Woodend and Gisborne, notorious for bushrangers, ‘but it will do, and they won’t expect trouble so close to Ballarat.’

Fletcher grinned. ‘We’re the Demon Boys,’ he said and again pulled the revolver from his belt. ‘We’re going to get rich without even breaking a sweat. Any minute now and they will turn that bend and then we’ll have them!’

Wetheral nodded. He could feel his heart hammering and he thought of the long road that had brought him here, how life had turned his daydreams into nightmares and his hopes to bitter gall, but this one wagonload of gold would change everything. His share would enable him to rectify so many injustices. For a moment he pondered a glorious future, but shook away the visions. He had to concentrate on the matter in hand.

‘Right, boys,’ The Colonel produced his 1849 issue Colt pocket revolver. With its short four-inch barrel, it was a murderer’s weapon: ugly, efficient and deadly, a pistol that suited its owner. ‘We go in quick and hit them hard . . . what the hell?’

‘Stand off!’ The words floated through the trees. ‘Stand off or we fire!’

Wetheral stiffened as his future dissolved in front of him. ‘Oh no! Jesus, God in heaven, no!’

‘It’s some other lot!’ Swearing foully, the Colonel kicked in his spurs and launched himself down to the road. ‘They’re after the bloody Majesty. They’re after our bastarding gold! They’ve hit the wagon before the bends!’

‘Bail up!’ The words were distorted and strangely high-pitched as they echoed between the trees. ‘Bail up, you bastards.’

Immediately after the last word, a single shot sounded, followed by an irregular fusillade, each shot seemingly a double crack as the echo rebounded from the close-knit trees.

‘Come on! They’re after our gold!’ The Colonel swore as his horse slipped sideways, nearly slamming him into the peeling trunk of a eucalypt.

‘Jesus, Kilpatrick!’ Fletcher used the Colonel’s second name. ‘What are you going to do? Attack the bushrangers?’

‘Bloody right I am!’ Colonel Kilpatrick swore again, wrestling with his horse. ‘I’ve planned this for bloody weeks. Do you think I’ll let some other bastard steal my gold?’

They scrambled down the slope, swearing furiously as the horses skittered on the red dust. The horses recovered in a tangle of legs and flopping manes, and then continued to thunder along the road towards the now constant rattle of gunfire. As they turned the final corner, Wetheral hauled on his reins and his horse reared its head, its hooves flailing in the air.

‘Oh Jesus, no!’

There had been five men in the group that attacked the gold wagon. One writhed on the ground, whimpering in terror as he tried to replace the pink entrails that uncoiled from his ripped belly. Three others were engaged in a moving fire fight with Dight’s cavalry, dodging from tree to tree as they took snap-shots from rifle and pistol. Under their cover, the fifth had evaded the escort and was galloping towards the wagon, the driver of which had dropped the reins to flee.

The team of horses stood with their heads down in the heat, the leading pair pawing at the tree trunk the bushrangers had dragged across the road as an impromptu block. Two of Dight’s men were down, one holding his shattered thigh, the other ominously still, with his head at an impossible angle. Dark blood seeped into the ground from the back of his skull.

As Wetheral watched, the fifth bushranger fired a single shot at the guard on the wagon, hitting him in the shoulder. The guard yelled out as the force of the bullet threw him off his seat. He cringed, swearing, with one hand covering the spreading patch of blood and his face twisted in agony.

‘Lie still, boy, or I’ll blow your head off!’ Replacing the pistol in his belt, the fifth bushranger cantered casually toward the wagon.

‘Bastard’s after my gold,’ Colonel Kilpatrick said, ‘but he’s not having it!’ Extending his revolver, the Colonel prepared to ride forward, until Fletcher grabbed hold of the reins of his horse.

‘Wait! It’s too easy, Colonel. There’s something not right here.’

‘Let go, damn you!’ Kilpatrick kicked out with his boot.

‘Watch!’ Fletcher struggled to control the Colonel’s horse. ‘Wait, I tell you!’

Grinning, the fifth bushranger approached the wagon. ‘It’s all ours, boys,’ he yelled, lifting the rear flap and hauling himself on board. There was a second’s silence, and then a single shot, and the bushranger appeared again, one hand clasped to his chest.

For a second, all gunfire died as though everybody was watching the drama on the wagon. The bushranger took a single step backwards, blood seeping from his chest and his pistol hand held at an right angle to his body. He tottered and tried to drag his pistol free but fell back to land beside the rear wheels. A tall man emerged from the back of the wagon, his white shirt and neatly pressed trousers a contrast to the dusty uniform of his fellows. Aiming at the twitching body of the bushranger, he fired again, twice, and then raised his voice in a shout. ‘Round them up, gentlemen!’ Replacing his pistol in a holster at his belt, he stroked his eyebrow with his left hand, smiling.

The firing began again, but this time the escort was in the ascendancy and the remaining bushrangers on the run. Dight’s cavalry, no longer comical with their jingling spurs and dangling sabres, trotted through the trees, two engaged in a pincer movement while the remainder pinned down the surviving bushrangers with a continual rolling fire.

‘Sweet Jesus in heaven,’ the Colonel blasphemed, carefully uncocking his pistol as he stared at the tall, immaculate man in the wagon. ‘That must be the bloody agent, after all. What the hell do we do now?’

‘We leave,’ Wetheral decided. ‘As fast as four legs will carry us.’ For once his companions followed his lead, with the Colonel the first to turn his horse. ‘There’s no gold for us this day.’

‘I’ve not given up yet, by the living Christ,’ Wetheral grated. ‘I want that gold and I fully intend to get us it.’

The agent seemed to look directly at them as he casually reloaded his revolver. ‘Hope you enjoyed the show, Colonel,’ he said in his highly educated voice, ‘but don’t go. I want a word with you.’

C H A P T E R O N E

LONDON

January 1850

Mendick remembered this room. He remembered the single window that overlooked Whitehall and the constant rumble of traffic outside. He remembered the soft crackle of the fire in the grate and the slow shadows cast by the brass chandelier that hung above. He remembered the slight smell of beeswax from the polished desk and the atmosphere of quiet efficiency, but most of all he remembered the sharp eyes of the portly man who sat on the leather chair behind the desk.

‘Well, Mendick,’ Inspector Charles Field had not changed in the three years since Mendick had last been here. He had perhaps put on some weight and there could have been a touch more grey in his hair, but he was as astute as ever and invited Mendick to sit opposite him with the same blend of impatience and good humour that Mendick remembered.

‘You have been having a busy time, Mendick, with one thing and another,’ Field lifted a buff file from his desk. ‘I have been keeping an eye on you since that affair with the attempted assassination of the Queen.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Mendick waited for more; Inspector Field had not invited him in to make polite conversation.

‘What cases are you working on at present, Mendick?’

That was direct enough. ‘I have three, sir. I have a spate of burglaries on the outskirts of town that we think is the work of an organised gang, the murder of a banker in Islington and the underworld is rife with rumours of a major robbery being planned.’ Mendick thought he detected a flicker of interest in Field’s face, so he elaborated further. ‘My contacts are very vague, but they say it will be huge and there is a man named Martin at the back of it. I am allowing Watters to concentrate on that while I look for whoever murdered Adam Leese. He was the banker, sir.’

‘Oh,’ Field stabbed a portly finger on the desk, ‘Drop them all. I have something for you.’

‘Even the murder, sir?’

Field nodded. ‘Yes, even the murder. There are at least three more murders that we know about at present. Now, more importantly, you were a seaman once, were you not, Mendick?’ Field leaned slightly forward as he asked.

‘Yes, sir. Many years ago . . .’

‘So you understand the workings of ships and things nautical.’ Field leaned back in his chair, obviously satisfied that Mendick was an oracle of the sea.

‘I know a little, sir,’ Mendick temporised, but Field had already moved on.

‘So you will know all about Thomas Wilson,’ Field said. ‘He is the country’s leading exponent of the steam yacht and, in conjunction with Robert Napier of Govan, he is striving hard to improve the design.’

Mendick thought it best not to admit his ignorance of the man.

‘Well, Wilson and Napier have designed and built the most splendid steam yacht in the world, a vessel named Dorothea . . .’ Field lifted another buff file from the desk and opened it, ‘Here we are. “Dorothea is a steam auxiliary yacht with a 70 horse power engine, twin masts and rigged as a schooner rig, accommodation for ten passengers and a crew of fifteen.”’ He looked up, ‘You understand these things much better than I. Of course, Wilson got kicked out of the Royal Yacht Club for supporting steam power, but that is not your concern.’

Field flicked the file across the desk. ‘You’d better read this. But not now, Mendick. In your own time, not mine.’

Mendick placed the file beside him and waited for Field to get to the point.

‘You will be aware that many wealthy and powerful men buy steam yachts for their leisure time and to display their status.’ Field’s expression gave nothing away of his feelings for these individuals.

‘I have heard of the practice, sir,’ Mendick said.

‘Well, the Duke of Mathon joined that club. He had Wilson design him the most luxurious yacht yet and personally supervised its building at Napier’s in Govan. He had it fitted out to the highest specifications and filled it with food and fine wines.’

Mendick raised his eyebrows as Field paused. ‘Yes, sir. I am sure it is a beautiful vessel.’

‘It is so beautiful, Mendick, that somebody decided to steal it. The Duke took his family on a small cruise around the south coast, and when he was picnicking on the Isle of Wight, somebody took his yacht and sailed away with it. Dorothea has not been seen since.’

Mendick tried to hide his smile. The idea of somebody stealing the luxury plaything of a wealthy landowner amused him greatly, but he knew it would be impolitic to admit it. ‘Good God!’ he said. ‘That is truly shocking.’

‘Indeed it is,’ Field said dryly, ‘yet you are not truly shocked.’ He had not risen to the rank of Inspector of Scotland Yard’s detectives without being able to read people. ‘It is piracy, Mendick.’ He lowered his voice, ‘As you know, piracy with violence still carries the death penalty.’

‘I see, sir.’ Mendick nodded.

‘Well, Mendick, I hope you do see, because His Grace is most upset at the loss of his boat. You know that he is a member of the government and is on half a dozen committees? His Grace is highly influential in matters pertaining to law and order. He wants his yacht back and I have decided that you are the very man to find it.’

Somehow Mendick had guessed that was coming. ‘Yes, sir.’

Field passed across another file. ‘Here is all the information you will need. I would be obliged if you do not bother His Grace with any tiresome questions, but you may speak to his staff. I expect this case closed very shortly. That will be all, Mendick.’

‘Yes, sir. ‘Mendick said, ‘I do have the other cases, sir . . .’

Field shook his head. ‘Not any longer, Mendick. This one takes priority. You have carte blanche to go where you like and do whatever is necessary, but find me that yacht or you will be back in uniform walking the beat.’ Field drummed podgy fingers on the desk. ‘His Grace will make sure of that. He has power and influence over us all. Take Watters with you, Mendick, and tell him the same goes for him.’ He leaned across the desk. ‘Find this yacht, Mendick, and don’t come back until you do.’

C H A P T E R T W O

ISLE OF WIGHT

‘Now here’s a thing,’ Watters looked up from the newspaper he was trying to read as the hired chaise rumbled over the narrow roads of the Isle of Wight. ‘This Jonathan Saltburn case is intriguing, don’t you think?’

‘Inspector Field wants us to forget all our other cases and concentrate on this one,’ Mendick reminded him.

‘It’s not one of my cases, Sergeant. Don’t you read the papers?’ Watters folded the page and handed it over. He jabbed his finger at one paragraph. ‘This Saltburn fellow is a commander in the Navy and he got cashiered. The Admiralty think he was involved in some crime, but they don’t specify which one. I was wondering if he was associated with my Martin case.’

Mendick handed the paper back. ‘You’ve no time for the Martin case, Watters. You have to concentrate on the Duke’s stolen yacht.’

‘I am not happy with this, Sergeant,’ Watters grumbled as the chaise lurched and threw him to the side. He grabbed onto the leather upholstery for support and cursed as the carriage jerked in the opposite direction and he sprawled across the seat. ‘I was making progress with Martin as well.’

‘I know,’ Mendick agreed. ‘You were doing your job in that investigation and now you must do your job in this investigation instead. That is the way of the service.’ He did not tell Watters that he was equally unhappy; such an admission would be bad for discipline.

‘That Martin fellow has never been caught, you know,’ Watters continued. ‘Nobody even knows who he is.’

‘I know,’ Mendick said again. ‘You can get back to that case once we find the Duke’s blessed boat, and I can get back to my banker’s murder.’

Watters grunted. ‘Martin may have robbed half of England by then,’ he said, ‘him and that Commander what’s-his-name.’

‘Well then, we had better solve this one quickly before he does,’ Mendick smiled across the gloom of the carriage. ‘How old are you, Watters?’

‘Twenty-five, sir.’ Watters stiffened to attention as if he was on parade. ‘Six years service in uniform and three weeks in Scotland Yard . . .’

‘This fellow Martin is your first case as a detective ,then?’ Mendick tried to sound encouraging.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Yes, Sergeant, will do. If this Martin is as good as you say, he will rob again and again, and the more robberies he does, the bigger the congratulations when you do catch him. Now, forget all about him just now.’ Mendick looked out the window, ‘We are lucky this fine weather is holding.’

‘It’s amazingly fine for January, Sergeant,’ Watters agreed.

‘So count your blessings and stop complaining,’ Mendick ordered, ‘I want to hear no more about Martin or any other case, save this one.’

Watters opened his mouth to protest but closed it again. ‘Yes, Sergeant,’ he injected just enough sarcasm into his voice to make Mendick grin.

The lad had some spirit, he thought. That could only be good.

Mendick stopped the chaise at the lodge house outside Mathon Hall. The iron gates to the policies, adorned with the Duke of Mathon’s coat of arms, were firmly shut.

‘Are you sure this is the right place?’ Watters removed his hat and scratched his curly red hair. ‘It does not say . . .’

‘It is,’ Mendick told him. ‘The Duke owns vast tracts of lands along the south coast, with his main residence in Hampshire. Mathon Hall on Wight is one of his lesser homes, but Lady Mathon is here now.’

Watters nodded. ‘That’s an impressive house,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been to a house this large before.’ He sounded slightly overawed. ‘We don’t get many that size off the Ratcliff Road.’

Mendick knew the area of London Watters referred to. It was the haunt of seamen, pimps, and prostitutes, well known for sudden violence and pub brawls. ‘You had a hard training on the job,’ he said.

‘It was interesting,’ Watters said. He looked again at Mathon Hall.‘The Duke must be an important man.’

‘I’m sure he thinks the same,’ Mendick’s tone was flat.

The bright winter sun was reflected from the scores of tall windows that extended along the entire front of the winged, neo-classical house that was Mathon Hall. A row of Greek statuary adorned the roofline, with a bearded god as a central figure, supported by nude goddesses – or perhaps nymphs, Mendick was not sure which. A sweeping stair led to a six-panelled front door ,nestled between fluted Doric pillars with a surround of acanthus leaves and a raised Greek key pattern.

The lodge keeper was elderly and bearded. ‘You want His Grace?’ he asked.

‘Could you open the gates, please?’ Mendick showed his official staff, on which the gold VR and his number represented his badge of authority.

‘His Grace does not like visitors,’ the lodge keeper said.

‘In the Queen’s name,’ Mendick announced.

The lodge keeper grunted, but he left his doorway and slouched over to the gate. He stood to watch as Mendick had the carriage drive right to the front door of Mathon Hall. It pulled up beside the statue of a man in a Roman toga that stood in the middle of the drive.

‘I wonder who that is?’ Watters spoke. He walked over, ‘The inscription says it’s Charles Henryson, First Duke of Mathon.’

‘That’s our man, then,’ Mendick glanced at the statue. ‘He’s obviously not the most modest of men.’ He shrugged. ‘I wonder why he wanted himself swathed in robes? No matter, we’re here to investigate the theft of his yacht, not his opinion of himself.’

‘Hadn’t we best go to the servants’ entrance?’ Watters asked.

‘Why? Are you a servant?’ Mendick did not expect a reply.

A tall footman answered the door. He looked Mendick up and down as if he hoped to intimidate him. ‘Do you have a card, sir?’ He pronounced the ‘sir’ as if it was a bad taste he hoped to expel from his mouth.

‘I have this,’ Mendick flourished his long baton. ‘We are on the Queen’s business.’ Without waiting for the man to answer, Mendick pushed into the house.

There was an outer and an inner hall, with tall columns rising to an ornate ceiling decorated in classic Adam style, casting an atmosphere of easy opulence. Two staircases rose from the hall. The nearer was broad and curved and swept upward to the upper floors with a landing adorned by Greek urns and statues. The other was smaller, set further back and much plainer, in bold brown and white. Eight tall doors opened into the living quarters.

Mendick’s boots sunk into the thick carpet. ‘Please tell His Grace that we are here,’ he said to a very dignified, middle-aged man he took to be the butler. ‘I am Sergeant James Mendick of Scotland Yard. This is Detective George Watters.’ He waited until there were an appreciable number of servants gathered before he continued, ‘We are here to investigate the theft of the Dorothea and to do so we must question many of you.’

The servants assembled according to rank, with the most junior standing apart from the senior staff. One very tall woman stared at Mendick through poisonous eyes. Nobody made any comment.

‘Now, I want everybody who was with His Grace when the Dorothea was stolen to come with me.’ He glanced at the butler, ‘Could you take me to a large room, please, where I can begin my enquiries without any disturbance.’

Obviously not used to being ordered around in the house where he had power and influence, the butler hesitated, until a woman of middling height and around his own age stepped determinedly into the inner hall.

‘What is all this?’ She was elegantly but simply dressed, with a serene gaze that swept over everybody until it reached Mendick. ‘You are the detective,’ she accused.

Mendick admitted the fact. ‘Detective Sergeant Mendick,’ he said.

‘Good.’ The woman thrust out her hand. ‘I am Lady Elizabeth, Duchess of Mathon. Tell me what you want and I will ensure you get it. The sooner we get this ugly business cleared up, the better.’

Her hand was firm and strong and her eyes grey, cool, and as direct as any that Mendick had ever seen. He thought a man might think himself lucky who had these eyes watching over him, and then he killed that thought to concentrate on more immediate matters. ‘Thank you, Your Ladyship. I need a quiet room and time to interview everybody who was present when the yacht was stolen.’

‘You shall have both,’ Lady Elizabeth agreed at once. ‘Take these police officers to the drawing room, Jenkins, and arrange for all the servants to meet them.’ Her gaze was as level as her handshake. ‘Do you wish to interview me as well, Mr . . . ?’

‘Sergeant Mendick, Your Ladyship,’ Mendick had not expected the Duchess to be so frank and open. His experience of the aristocracy was both limited and negative and this practical outlook was refreshing. ‘Yes, I would wish to interview you, and your husband if that is possible.’

‘His Grace is elsewhere at present,’ Lady Elizabeth said at once, ‘so I am afraid you will have to make do with me.’

Mendick gave a little bow, ‘I am sure that will do very well, Your Ladyship.’

With the exception of the very tall woman, the servants fidgeted nervously as they stood in the drawing room, Lady Elizabeth sitting in front of them. The Greek theme from the exterior was continued here, with Grecian keys in bas-relief around the wall and a large urn with images of Greek gods and goddesses on either side of the fireplace.

‘Keep to the back of the room, please,’ Mendick said to the servants. ‘I will speak to you all one by one,’ thus ensuring he had some privacy in an environment notorious for the swift spread of gossip.

‘Now take your time, Your Ladyship.’ Mendick ignored the twenty eyes that were fixed on him, ‘and tell me exactly what happened the day the yacht was stolen. Detective Watters here will take notes.’

‘It was really very simple, Sergeant,’ Lady Elizabeth said. ‘Charles – His Grace – brought Dorothea down from the Clyde and berthed her at Cowes. He decided to try her out with a cruise around the Isle of Wight and I agreed, of course.’ When Lady Elizabeth paused for a significant moment Mendick wondered if anybody ever disagreed with His Grace.

‘There was His Grace and myself, nobody else–’

Mendick interrupted her, ‘Were there no servants, Your Ladyship?’

‘Servants?’ Lady Elizabeth looked a little taken aback. ‘Yes, of course there were servants, but no guests, no people. Nobody of any consequence, I mean.’

‘I see,’ Mendick mentally revised his opinion of Lady Elizabeth down a notch. ‘There would be the yacht’s master and the crew as well?’

Lady Elizabeth looked perplexed. ‘His Grace is the master, Sergeant Mendick.’

‘I mean the master of the yacht . . . the captain . . .’ Mendick tried to explain.

‘Oh, I see,’ Lady Elizabeth nodded vigorously. ‘Oh yes, there were sailors present as well.’

‘I will need a list of the crew, please, and as many details about them as you have.’

‘Details of the crew?’ Lady Elizabeth looked at Mendick in amazement. ‘They were just sailors, men who sailed the boat.’ She fumbled for words, ‘Seaborne servants, really, so of course I took no notice of what they were like.’ She hesitated for a moment, thinking. ‘I do remember His Grace saying we were shorthanded or a man short, or something similar.’

‘Thank you, Your Ladyship,’ Mendick said gravely. ‘Can you recall any names at all, or even a description?’

Lady Elizabeth firmly shook her head. ‘No, Sergeant Mendick. I had no dealings with them. Perhaps His Grace knew their names, but he is elsewhere at present.’

‘I will ask him later,’ Mendick promised. ‘Did you see the yacht sail away?’

‘We all did.’ Lady Elizabeth said. ‘His Grace sent one of the servants to enquire what the dev– what was happening, but the fellow was too slow and the yacht was gone before he reached the beach.’

‘Did you see in which direction she sailed, Your Ladyship?’

‘It sailed south,’ Lady Elizabeth was quite definite.

‘Was she under sail or steam power?’

Lady Elizabeth made a small, unladylike noise. ‘She was smoking like a chimney, Sergeant. That is why His Grace decided to leave her and have the picnic. There was not a breath of wind in the air, not a breath, so the horrid black smoke from the funnel was all over the deck and we had to stay indoors. Well, that just would not do, so His Grace decided on the picnic.’

‘Was she fully coaled up?’ Mendick asked, and then translated, ‘If His Grace had only intended a small cruise around the island, she may not have had a full load of coal on board. Do you happen to know if her bunkers were full?’

Lady Elizabeth looked astonished at the question. ‘I left that sort of thing to His Grace,’ she said.

‘I see,’ Mendick began to wonder if Lady Elizabeth did anything apart from look attractive and act efficiently. ‘Could you tell me the name of the yacht’s master?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Lady Elizabeth said at once. ‘He was Captain Thrower.’

‘Did he have a first name?’ Mendick asked, but Lady Elizabeth did not know the first names of her underlings.

‘Perhaps you could furnish me with a description, then?’

‘He wore a very smart uniform,’ Lady Elizabeth remembered, ‘and he was immaculately shaved.’ A slight pucker spoiled her faultless brow. ‘I do remember that he had a scar,’ she touched her head above the left eye, ‘just here. It quite spoiled his hairline.’

Mendick took a mental note and glanced over to Watters, who nodded. He had that detail written down. ‘Was he a young man?’ Mendick asked.

‘He was not,’ Lady Elizabeth sounded indignant. ‘I would not go to sea unless the captain was very experienced. Captain Thrower was about fifty years of age.’

Watters continued to take notes as Mendick questioned the servants one by one. Most of them had roughly the same story: His Grace had wanted to sail in his new yacht; His Grace had insisted on stopping for a picnic on the south coast of the island; His Grace had insisted that all the servants join them on the island and when they were there the yacht had sailed away.

‘Is it normal for His Grace to get his way in everything?’ Mendick asked.

‘Quite normal.’ The servants had looked surprised at the question.

Only one servant had given a different version. Jemima was around forty, with bowed shoulders and a bitter twist to her mouth.

‘Her Ladyship was not happy at the smoke from the funnel blowing over her clothes and insisted that she wanted to go ashore for a picnic.’

‘Her Ladyship insisted?’ Mendick asked. ‘The other servants believe it was His Grace who wanted the picnic.’

Jemima shook her head, ‘No, Sergeant Mendick. I was combing Her Ladyship’s hair at the time. Her Ladyship was quite insistent. “Charles,” she said, in that whining tone she adopts when she wants something from him, “Charles, I demand we go ashore immediately. You owe me that at least!”’ Jemima smiled. ‘His Grace caved in at once, of course.’

‘You owe me that?’ Mendick glanced at Watters to ensure he had written the phrase down. ‘What did Her Ladyship mean by that, do you think?’

Jemima screwed up her face. ‘I really can’t say, sir. I never gave it a second thought. Maybe they had a fight and she was reminding him. I don’t know. There is one thing I do remember, Sergeant Mendick. His Grace was very unkind about the crew. He said they were a rubbishy lot more than once.’

‘A rubbishy lot?’

‘Yes, sir. Or maybe it was a bad lot, but he was not happy with them.’

Mendick watched Watters note that down. ‘Did he tell you that directly?’

‘No, sir. He told Mr Fairgreave, his valet, sir.’

‘Thank you,’ Mendick noted the name. ‘And where can I find Mr Fairgreave?’

‘With His Grace, Sergeant,’ the housekeeper said quietly. ‘Fairgreave always stays close to His Grace.’

‘I see. Thank you.’ It seemed that one of his best leads had just been closed. Mendick returned to his stock questions. ‘Do you know the names of any of the crew?’

The servants had appeared even more astonished at that question. Household staff, they told Mendick, would hardly associate with sailors. The tall housekeeper, a woman named Janet, was especially scandalised. She was about thirty, steady-eyed and hard of mouth.

‘I mean to say,’ said the stiffly-starched Janet, ‘you must have heard of the reputation that seamen have.’ She blushed and looked downwards, ‘A girl in every port, that sort of thing.’

‘So I have heard,’ Mendick said solemnly.

‘I had to reprimand Mary quite severely,’ Janet said. ‘She had the audacity to talk to one of them. I warned her that she would lose her position if she was not careful.’

Mendick decided to question Mary quite closely.

All the servants gave a very similar story: they had been helping with the picnic and had seen the yacht steam away to the south. No, they did not know where the yacht had headed; no, they had not spoken to the sailors. Nobody except Jemima mentioned the Duke’s comments about the crew.

Mendick asked the same questions but learned little. He allowed each servant to leave as soon as their interview was completed, but chose his subjects carefully and kept Mary for last.

‘Sit down, Mary, and relax,’ Mendick said. ‘You are not on trial here.’ Mary was a jaunty, freckled girl with a figure that would undoubtedly attract the attention of a sailor.

‘You are Mary . . . ,’ he checked the list of servants ‘Chichester?’

Mary snatched off her servant’s cap and shook her head so her auburn curls bounced. ‘That’s not my real name, mister. Her Ladyship gives us whatever name suits her. My real name is Ella Brown, but that’s not good enough for Mathon Hall. Too common, the housekeeper said.’ Mary’s expression revealed exactly what she thought of that.

Mendick allowed the comment to pass. ‘Well, Ella, I hear you spoke to one of the sailors on Dorothea.’

Ella started and began to deny everything until Mendick put a hand on her arm. ‘That’s no crime, Ella, and I attach no blame to you for talking to a sailor. I just want to know what was said.’

‘There was nothing bad,’ Ella denied any impropriety. She looked at the closed door as if expecting Janet or Lady Elizabeth to pounce on her words. ‘I’m not a bad girl, sir.’

‘I did not for a second think that you were,’ Mendick assured her. ‘Come now, Ella, you know that the yacht . . .’

‘Dorothea,’ Ella interrupted him, ‘her name is Dorothea. You must not just call her a boat or a yacht. They are living things with souls and you have to call her by her name, Tom says. That’s what Tom always says.’

Mendick allowed her to talk. ‘Is that what Tom says? Well, Ella, thank you for telling me that. Tom obviously knows a lot about the sea.’

‘Tom is my man.’ There was pride in Ella’s voice. ‘He says that when he comes back shore-side he’ll be rich and he’ll take me out of service and we’ll buy an inn by the sea together.’

‘Well met, Tom,’ Mendick approved. He waited for a second so Ella could catch her breath. ‘Was Tom the sailor from Dorothea?’

Colour flooded Ella’s face. ‘Yes, but he’s my man.’ Her voice rose indignantly, ‘I don’t just talk to any sailor, you know. Tom and I have an arrangement. We are going to go walking out together before we do anything.’

‘He sounds a decent sort of fellow,’ Mendick soothed the anger away. ‘Did he say when he would be back? Or where he was going?’

Ella shook her head. ‘No, sir.’

‘Was he an experienced sailor, Ella?’

‘Yes, sir, he was on the Western Ocean packet ships.’

Mendick glanced at Watters, ‘A packet rat, eh?’ He gave Ella what he hoped was a friendly smile. ‘There is quite a difference between a packet sailor and working on a luxury yacht, Ella. How on earth did he land that job?’

Ella screwed up her face. ‘I don’t know, sir. Tom said that none of the men on the ship were yacht sailors. Tom said that he was specially chosen, sir, but he did not know why.’